Winston Peters: Rail Minister on the impact of KiwiRail reducing its Interislander fleet to two

The Rail Minister says any supply chain interruptions caused by the Interislander reducing its Cook Strait ferry fleet can be handled.  

Aratere will be retired when demolition begins on its decaying Picton dock late this year or early next, to add infrastructure for new ships. 

It's KiwiRail's only rail-enabled ferry.  

Winston Peters told Ryan Bridge it won't have an impact on the amount of freight KiwiRail is moving.  

He says it will be supplemented by added shipping around the coast and a re-formulated programme. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Inter Island, a fleet will go from three to two.
Key Rail set to retire one of its feries. It's
been a long haul of the other teddy. Yes, it's
the same one that ran around and picked in last year.
If you were wondering the two new rail feries currently
expected to arrive twenty twenty nine, Winston Peter's the rail
minister with me this morning, Minister, good morning, good morning.
So one hundred and twenty million dollars is what it

(00:22):
would have cost to upgrade a port to keep this
particular fury running for the next three years as a stopgap?
Is that right.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Now? It would be an attempt to try and juggle
things around while you built a temporary arrangement to fill
things out in the meantime. And really that was a cost.
It didn't make any sense at all. And so the
decision has been made vi Q Rail to ensure that
we maintain a service not as good as a pass.

(00:54):
That's something that will enable us to appair properly for
the future. With the Excity Arch and Kayah.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Down to two vessels, what does that mean for crossings?
How many few are, how much less freight? What's the
impact on you know, our well, it'll.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Be implemented by it'll be submitted the fair question. It'll
be supmented by added shipping around the coast as well
and a reformulated program. But they've assured both us and
the customers, their customers that it can be done where
confident can be. The real issue here, though, of course,

(01:31):
was a serving enormous amount of money that would have
been less than the old plans, which is, you know,
blown out from being very lowest figure we started with
to almost on the treasury four billion dollars.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
I get that. But you're saying the one hundred and
twenty million dollars is what we would have to pay
in order to have three ferries operating for the next
three years.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Is that what you're.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Saying, No, it's far more confide cater than that. What
has happened the course is that there's always going to
be at time when we had to deal with the
particularly the side of the of the shipping lane that's
set at the top of the South Arland. That was
always going to be the agent major problem. And we've

(02:18):
only got two hundred meters of face to work and
as a consequence, trying to adjust to get the Oritaria
to continue would have required that one hundred and twenty
million plus expenditure rather than to take the decision that
here Rail has taken.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Right, So it is fair to say that without one
hundred and twenty million dollars we wouldn't be able to
have Arditatum operating.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Exactly right, okay. And also and also we are trying
to build something for the next sixty years in terms
of infrastructure, totally get that's a critical problem.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
But for the next three years or three and a
half years, are you saying there will be no impact
on our supply chains on our freight.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
There will be an impact, but nothing which cannot be
handled that we've been assured by a q rail example,
setting on the fairy feet for passioners and care of
rail is complet can accommodate fate. It will make changes,
for example, to its rail fate and firry federals to
optimize the supply chain. So fairy fate like grain, isn't
going to be transferred into rail ferries, so it's more

(03:25):
likely we'll go bastly go by a way of shipping.
But you can see that the readers was that have
to be made but in the end, no, we'll keep
the supply line going while preparing for a far better future.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
We are talking about nine hundred and twenty cars one
hundred and twenty rail cars per day that'll be taken
out of action. You're saying we are going to be
able to find a solution to work around for all
of that, so there's no disruption. It does sound ambitious, well.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yes, ambitious it is, but this was always a huge
them when it was first contemplated to cook straight because
of its nature. However, it is a decision that has
to be made and we've gone over the figures with
key Rail, we've gone over the calculation with q Rail
after the massive correction that we have made when I
got the job as Monster last year in December. And

(04:19):
we're on our way now and look pastons traveling with
their cars might find the most popular day daytime settings
book up fast at especially bridge time of the year,
but evening savings will be on off and we're going
to change the schedules to time and keep the previous
going adequately enough.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Winston Peters appreciate your time. The Rail Minister. For more
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